Jung Yoonseo’s voice asking to meet suddenly didn’t sound too good. Moreover, I was in a situation where I unilaterally owed Jung Yoonseo a debt, so I got nervous for no reason. At my question, Jung Yoonseo was silent for a moment before saying.
[Make some time next Saturday.]
“Next Saturday?”
[Come to my place. I have something to ask you.]
“…Something to ask?”
[Let’s talk when we meet.]
Jung Yoonseo’s voice wasn’t good to begin with, and the timing of the call was subtle, so I ended up giving meaning to his words. Anxiously, I hesitated for a moment before asking.
“Is it something serious?”
[…I’m not sure, but I think some explanation might be necessary…]
“…I understand.”
[Was work busy today?]
“Weekends are always busy. But it wasn’t deadly.”
When I couldn’t bring myself to ask and moved on, Jung Yoonseo immediately steered the conversation to everyday talk. When I responded lightly to his relatively lighter tone, I heard Jung Yoonseo’s laughter.
[If it’s deadly, you should quit…]
“Why are there so many people telling me to quit lately?”
[Who else besides me said that?]
“Ah, a friend.”
[A friend?]
Jung Yoonseo asked back as if puzzled. Surprisingly, yes, I do have friends. Moreover, he’s a new employee who joined your company. But since I couldn’t say this, I deflected vaguely.
“A friend told me to quit, so I asked if he’d support me and he didn’t answer.”
[I can do it though.]
“Do what?”
[I can support you.]
It was an obvious thing to say, really.
“Then support me.”
[Should I?]
Jung Yoonseo answered cheekily. Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted, but I just hung up saying never mind. And I had no intention of quitting work for the time being. Setting aside the difficulty, doing that kind of work made me feel like I was grounded in reality. Also, I felt like Cha Hyunwoo would be disappointed. That aside, I should probably talk to Cha Hyunwoo about taking the weekend off.
***
I got a substitute for Saturday and changed to a late shift on Sunday. Actually, I hadn’t really thought about the Sunday shift, but since Cha Hyunwoo said something came up on Saturday, it was the result of being considerate. Looking at things like this, Cha Hyunwoo was really fundamentally kind and attentive.
All week I asked Eun Haejin just in case if there were any company dinners scheduled, but fortunately there weren’t. Whether my questioning seemed suspicious, I was interrogated several times about what happened when I was drunk, but I stuck to playing dumb until the end.
And so Saturday came, and with an anxious heart, I headed to Jung Yoonseo’s place.
In case the conversation went long, I arrived at Jung Yoonseo’s place first around eleven in the morning and called.
[…Hello?]
Jung Yoonseo’s voice was hoarse as if he’d just woken up.
“I’m in front of your place.”
[In front? What time is it?]
“Ten minutes before eleven.”
[…Huh?]
Jung Yoonseo asked back in bewilderment. He seemed out of it. Did he sleep late yesterday? But Jung Yoonseo was the one who told me to come at a convenient time.
“I called first because I think the staff will call you the moment I enter the first floor. Should I come in?”
[Wait, wait a moment…]
“Should I wait?”
[Just come up for now.]
The call ended abruptly with those words. I went to the first floor and informed the staff that I was going to the top floor. The staff nodded and made a call. When Jung Yoonseo’s okay signal came through, the staff held the elevator for me just like before, and I awkwardly got on the elevator just like before.
When I arrived at the very top floor and pressed the doorbell, some incomprehensible words poured out from the intercom and the door swung open. It seemed Jung Yoonseo had cursed in German.
The door opened and I entered the house, but Jung Yoonseo was nowhere to be seen.
“Hyung?”
“Wait a moment!”
I heard Jung Yoonseo shouting from somewhere deep inside. And after quite a long time for something he called “a moment,” Jung Yoonseo walked out to the living room with still-damp hair.
“You just woke up not long ago.”
Jung Yoonseo, in a different robe from last time and looking quite disheveled as if he’d just finished showering, ran his hand over his face.
“…Yes.”
“It seems so.”
“Why did you come so early?”
“You told me to come when it’s convenient.”
“This time is convenient?”
I just shrugged once at Jung Yoonseo’s words. Jung Yoonseo sat down on the sofa with a face full of dissatisfaction.
“But why did you tell me to come today?”
“You want the conclusion as soon as you arrive…”
Jung Yoonseo pressed his forehead with his hand as if he had a headache. I looked at that hand for a moment, then turned my body toward Jung Yoonseo and looked at him.
“What’s the introduction then?”
“Do you know how to make coffee?”
“Of course. I work at a cafe.”
“Perfect. Go to the kitchen and make some coffee. If you’re going to drink too, make yours as well.”
“Isn’t this slave-driving boss territory?”
I grumbled playfully but obediently got up and headed to the kitchen. It wasn’t the espresso machine used in cafes—there was a hand drip machine and a capsule coffee machine placed side by side.
“Capsule? Hand drip?”
Even at my question, Jung Yoonseo didn’t really answer. I was about to just make two cups of capsule coffee for convenience but changed course to hand drip. I used to make it occasionally when working at a private cafe, and seeing it after a long time made me want to try making it.
Since making hand drip coffee took quite a while, I hummed a song while waiting for the coffee to drip. When I brought Jung Yoonseo a cup of coffee, he asked in a languid voice.
“Why did it take so long?”
“I made hand drip.”
“I sent you to just make capsule coffee though?”
“You didn’t answer when I asked.”
“Ah… I didn’t hear you.”
So this is the downside of a big house. It wasn’t like I’d shouted that quietly either.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Jung Yoonseo replied and took a sip of coffee. Seeing his eyebrows rise slightly, it seemed not bad.
“You make it well.”
“I used to make it quite often before.”
At my words, Jung Yoonseo put down the coffee and crossed his arms. I sat down rather demurely and continued looking at Jung Yoonseo.
“…What?”
“I’m debating whether to talk about it now or not.”
“Hyung. I really have no idea what this is about, but it’s harder being this anxious, so please tell me first… You’ve been torturing me for 5 days.”
At my words, Jung Yoonseo chuckled. Jung Yoonseo got up from his seat, tied his robe once, brought some documents from the study, and sat back down in front of me. Jung Yoonseo placed the documents on the table and said.
“First, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
When I asked back in puzzlement at the sudden apology, Jung Yoonseo hesitated for a moment before confessing.
“I did a bit of a background check.”
“…Background check?”
“Well, Hyun-ssi told me such an absurd story. Of course, it’s not that I don’t believe you at all, but I still needed to cross-check. I don’t know you completely either.”
I felt my heart beating anxiously at Jung Yoonseo’s words. As I looked at Jung Yoonseo silently, Jung Yoonseo’s well-sculpted brow furrowed slightly.
“You said back then that you really had no mental problems, right?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how much I investigate, I don’t check all the medical records. I have something called a conscience.”
“…Yes.”
“But there was something strange.”
Jung Yoonseo rummaged through the documents for a while, calmly pondering how to convey the story. The result of his consideration wasn’t very impressive, as Jung Yoonseo soon organized the documents again, put them down, stopped dragging it out, looked straight into my eyes and said.
“Your parents didn’t divorce, did they?”
For a moment, it felt like my breath was cut off. Jung Yoonseo had found out about ‘Lee Hyun’ while I was away.
Not knowing how to answer, I just kept looking at Jung Yoonseo silently when I heard a light sigh.
“First of all, I’m truly sorry about your parents passing away. Actually, if I’d known that, I wouldn’t have dug into family matters. I just… thought they were divorced.”
I couldn’t say anything. Jung Yoonseo seemed to glance at me briefly, then continued speaking.
“But there were quite a few things that didn’t add up. First of all, until high school… you lived with your grandfather. In Cheonan. I knew because you were registered at the same residence.”
“…Yes.”
Jung Yoonseo rummaged through the documents and handed me a stack of papers.
“What I’m curious about is this. That book? I read it too.”
“…The book.”
What Jung Yoonseo mentioned was ‘Until the Day I Confess Again,’ which had now become a record of Kang Seojin’s life. …Probably Kang Seojin’s life was recorded there. The life I had talked about as Lee Hyun’s life.
“…It was strange. I definitely met Lee Hyun, but strangely, what you talked about… was all the protagonist from that book.”
“That’s…”
“Assuming you really have no mental problems on that front, and that absurd superpower you mentioned last time is real, I did some thinking too.”
Should I make the first move? But I couldn’t get a grasp on what to say either. Should I say that I actually somehow possessed a supporting character in a book, but now I don’t even know if that’s the book, can’t tell if this is the novel or that’s the novel, and I have no idea why I possessed it, how it’ll be resolved, or if it’ll even be resolved?
While I was confused as if my head would explode from the sudden amount of information, Jung Yoonseo said seriously.
“Multiverse… is it something like that?”
“What?”
